A top priority for social Conservatives in 2003 was passage of a ban on "intact dilation and extraction" abortions, or what opponents call "partial birth" abortions. While similar bans on the medial procedure were adopted by Congress in 1996 and 1997, then-President Clinton vetoed both measures. President Bush, however, has promised to sign the measure if it reaches his desk. The subject of this vote was final passage of a conference report which would ban "intact dilation and extraction" abortions unless the procedure was necessary to save the life of the mother. (When legislation passed the House and Senate in different forms, a conference committee is convened to reconcile differences between the two versions of the legislation, and a conference report represents Congress's final legislative product.) Abortion opponents-and even some who supported a woman's right to choose-called the medical procedure murder. Pro-choice lawmakers, including Progressives, responded that the rarely-used procedure was designed to protect the health of the mother, and that the majority of cases involved an infant that was not viable outside the womb. Furthermore, Progressives argued that the ban was unconstitutional because it conflicted with the Supreme Court's 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade which legalized abortion. On a vote of 281-142, the House adopted the conference report and the measure was sent to the Senate. (The Senate adopted the conference report on October 21 and the measure was signed into law by President Bush on November 5.)